The Judges and their Deliverance #5

Jael the Surprising Hero

Judges 4:17–24 KJV (WS)

17 Howbeit Sisera fled away on his feet to the tent of Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite: for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite. 18 And Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him with a mantle. 19 And he said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty. And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him. 20 Again he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt say, No. 21 Then Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died. 22 And, behold, as Barak pursued Sisera, Jael came out to meet him, and said unto him, Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, behold, Sisera lay dead, and the nail was in his temples. 23 So God subdued on that day Jabin the king of Canaan before the children of Israel. 24 And the hand of the children of Israel prospered, and prevailed against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they had destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Introduction

Do you ever feel like there are just too many things in your life that you wish were different?

Things in your past.

Talents you wish you had.

The phase of life you are in.

You look around at other people and you see how much better they are doing in life.

A little voice starts to whisper to you that there is nothing God could do with you.

You are just too unconventional to be of any use.

This is a lie from the devil.

Our passage tonight shows that God can use even the most unconventional instrument to accomplish his plan.

The passage comes back around to Sisera as he flees the battle. vss 17-18

Barak, Deborah, and the 10,000 Israelites soldiers have overrun his 900 chariots.

Unused to losing, Sisera dismounts and runs for his life.

Bullies can rarely handle it when someone stands up to them.

Sisera’s bad day, however, makes a significant improvement when he remembers that he has a friend nearby.

You may remember that Heber, a distant relative of Moses’ father in law, lived near where the battle had taken place.

Heber was a traitor to the Israelites.

He had cut himself off from the rest of the family.

He had allied himself with Jabin the king of Canaan.

He had informed Sisera that Barak had gathered his troops on Mt. Tabor.

This where Sisera heads to seek safety.

As he approaches the tent of Heber, Jael, Heber’s wife comes out to meet him.

She motions for Sisera to enter the tent, an invite which he gladly accepts.

As he enters the tent, she covers him with a mantle.

This is a move which signals to Sisera that this is a safe place.

He can let his guard down in this tent.

These people are on his side.

With his safety secured for the moment, Sisera asks Jael for a drink. vss 19-20

Sisera’s energy has been sapped by the battle.

Though he is safe for the moment, Sisera knows that he needs to recharge and be ready for action quickly.

He specifically asks Jael for a drink of water.

When you’ve been exerting yourself and you’re tired, there is nothing better than a cool drink of water.

It cleans your mouth and throat.

No doubt, Sisera has dirt and sand stuck in his teeth.

It cools your body.

It replenishes your energy.

A drink of water would be just what the doctor ordered for the weary general.

That is not what Jael offers him, though.

Instead of water, she opens up a bottle of milk.

Without refrigeration, we can assume this is a rather warm drink of milk.

Warm milk is known to induce sleepiness.

That is exactly what starts to happen to Sisera.

Jael had given him a blanket.

Sisera is tired.

He orders her to keep watch while he rests for a moment.

If anyone asks whether she has a man in the tent, she must tell them no.

Jael waits for Sisera to go to sleep. vss 21-22

Once she is sure that he is fast asleep, she does something entirely unexpected.

Remember, she is the wife of Heber, the ally of Jabin.

Remember also, that Deborah prophesied that Barak would win the battle, but Sisera would be delivered into the hand of a woman.

Jael goes and grabs two items, a hammer and a tent spike.

She makes her way quietly towards the sleeping general.

She places the spike on the side of his head, on the temple.

Before he can move or wake up and realize what is happening, Jael fastens his head to the ground by driving the nail through his temples.

The temples are the thinnest parts of your skull.

There are numerous nerves and blood vessels in front of and behind the temple area.

By driving the nail through this part, Jael would have caused almost instant death for Sisera.

A little while later, Barak came by in pursuit of Sisera.

Again, Jael goes out to the door of the tent and gestures for him to come in.

Barak stops his pursuit and goes to meet Jael.

Before he can say anything, Jael says that the man he seeks is in the tent.

I wonder if Barak draws his sword and like gets into a fighting stance as he goes inside.

We know he was surprised by what he saw.

The passage says when he came into her tent, BEHOLD, Sisera lay dead.

Israel’s greatest enemy had been killed by a woman, just as God had announced.

The passage closes with an important lesson.

Though Barak led the army into battle…

Though Jael drove the nail through nail through Sisera’s head…

Ultimately, the credit for Israel’s deliverance belonged to someone else.

God delivered Israel from Jabin the king of Canaan. vss 23-24

God took Jabin’s strength from him on that day.

Jabin lost his chariots.

Jabin lost his general.

God prospered the children of Israel in the coming days and weeks.

As they skirmished and moved towards Hazor, God gave them victory after victory.

I imagine them liberating one town after another.

The victory tour sweeps across Israel until…

God enabled them to destroy Jabin and his kingdom.

After a short siege, Hazor is overthrown.

Jabin is dragged out of the city and justice is served against him for the 1,000s of Jewish lives he had taken during his oppression.

After 20 years, the people are delivered, and all of the glory and credit rightly belongs to God.

Anytime humans are delivered from oppression, God deserves the credit.

He is the omnipotent sovereign of the universe.

He raises up deliverers.

His deliverers don’t often fit our expectations.

Deborah, Barak, and Jael were all unconventional instruments for God to use.

What we consider to be unconventional is not an obstacle for God.

We see this in this passage, but also throughout the Bible.

Moses

Paul

Mary

Any of the disciples.

Amos

So many people that were used by God, who we would look at and say, “how could God use them?”

Application

This passage out to give us confidence that God can use our lives to make a difference.

He could give influence and leadership to godly Deborah in a culture that was often restrictive towards women.

He could give military victory to a hesitant leader like Barak.

He could deliver the hardened general into the hands of Jael.

If he could do all of this, he can certainly use your life too.

You may not feel like you are qualified or even well positioned to make a difference in God’s kingdom.

Do not discount what God can do if you will offer him your life.

If you are willing to let God use you, even if you might be an unconventional instrument, your unconventionality is no obstacle to God.

Many of God’s best servants in history had features or backgrounds that made them seem unconventional.

John Newton was a former slave trader

Charles Spurgeon battled gout and depression and lacked any formal training.

Corrie ten Boom was a watch maker

C.S. Lewis was an atheist.

If God can use them, why can’t he use you?

Speaking of unconventional tools in the hand of God, what about Jesus?

Humanly speaking, Jesus is a very unconventional Messiah figure.

From his birth, to his team, to his death.

When compared to the other religions of the world, Jesus is the most unconventional of them all.

And yet, we see God bring the greatest deliverance through the life of Jesus.

He defeated our greatest enemy not in hand to hand combat but through his sacrificial death and his miraculous resurrection.

Conclusion

First, we praise God for how this story points us to Jesus and the efficacy of his life.

He was not the Messiah they were looking for, but he was the Messiah we needed.

The unconventionality of his life didn’t make him less of a deliverer.

Second, we learn from the lives of Deborah, Barak, and Jael, that God can use any of us to play a role in his kingdom.

You may not look the part of an instrument of God’s work.

But, with God working through you, that doesn’t matter.

What matters the most is are you willing for God to use your life?